


Without a Ring

by Raaj



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Eloping, F/M, Fluff, but no on the whole this is a happy fic, tiz has tiny regret, when you lose your head over the doki-dokis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17704847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raaj/pseuds/Raaj
Summary: Tiz and Agnès are usually the picture of impulse control among their group of friends.  But when they fail, they fail big time.  And when they fail together, well... their friends may not let them live this one down.





	Without a Ring

Past dusk was when Tiz and Agnès finally made their way back to Caldisla’s inn, where they were staying for the last night, but Karl was not surprised by this. With Tiz having helped save the world  _again_ , and Agnès having been involved in talks with the king of Caldisla, and their friends setting off for Eternia on the way to their own homes, he imagined they had plenty keeping themselves busy.  
  
But his eyebrows did rise at seeing the two of them walk in with linked hands and a slow gait, the pair constantly looking at each other and only occasionally at where they were going. Between both of them they were avoiding any mishaps, but they weren’t avoiding painting a very open picture of intimacy. Perhaps they had distracted each other from turning in sooner, Karl thought, and cleared his throat to get their attention. They nearly jumped; Karl’s mouth twitched as he fought not to smile at how absorbed they’d been. “…Do you two want dinner? There’s still leftovers.”  
  
“Thank you, Karl. That would be wonderful,” Agnès said, beaming, but Tiz…  
  
Tiz looked once at Karl, and then seemed to get embarrassed, ducking his gaze. The old innkeeper wrinkled his brow. That was a strange reaction. Well, he knew the lad could be easily flustered sometimes. Perhaps he had become embarrassed to realize his feelings were on display.  
  
Yet even after the two separated hands to take adjacent seats at the dinner table, Tiz still acted strangely bashful for someone who had lived at the inn for six months before. Agnès was in high spirits, smiling and chatting, brushing her hand with Tiz’s, and the boy was reciprocating her attention, but he turned nervous when Karl spoke to him. Not to mention that towards the end of the dinner, Agnès seemed to be prodding Tiz to say something.  
  
“Uh, Karl?” Tiz said at last. “There’s something we need to tell you.”  
  
“Is something the matter?” Karl asked carefully. To all appearances, Agnès thought there wasn’t, but Tiz’s apprehension seemed nearly like guilt now.  
  
And indeed, the boy hesitated again. The vestal besides him gave him about ten seconds, but when he said nothing, she jumped in. “Nothing bad has happened, Karl. I don’t understand why Tiz is getting so flustered. He and I are married!” Agnès announced happily.  
  
All the questions Karl had been considering stuck in his throat at that, and he raised his eyebrows, looking from the beaming vestal to the young man looking at him anxiously. “Congratulations,” he said, adding with all sincerity: “I’m sure you two will make each other very happy. Even though you’re still young, you’ve both shown how strong and capable you are.” He paused. “But… I must ask. Did I miss an announcement? This seems quite sudden.” Not wrong–he hoped they didn’t take it that way–but the abruptness of the news was unusual for the two in front of him. Nothing had happened to rush them, had it?  
  
Tiz groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Edea is going to murder me. There was no announcement because we didn’t think about making one. We decided we would get married today and we were right next to the church so we…we sort of–”  
  
“We got married, of course,” Agnès finished simply.  
  
“–We eloped.”  
  
“What?! We most certainly exchanged  _marriage_  vows!”  
  
“Eloping is when you get married without telling anyone,” Karl explained to Agnès. She blinked at him in puzzled bewilderment.  
  
“We told the priest. How else would we have been married? And I told you just now.”  
  
Karl opened his mouth to try explaining again, but it was at this point that Tiz broke down, his hunched posture of despair suddenly shaking with mirthful laughter. “Agnès–I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing–” He pulled one hand to his mouth to muffle the chuckles still coming out of him. “You’re not wrong, we’re properly married. But weddings are often celebrated with others in attendance. Like family, and friends. And they’re usually announced in advance.”  
  
“Oh. So we were supposed to tell people beforehand?”  
  
“Yeah. When you just run off and do it…that usually only happens when there’s a scandal involved.” Now that the humor was fading, Tiz winced as he considered his words. “No wonder the king looked taken aback when we went to have it recorded.”  
  
Karl chuckled. “Most likely he was disappointed he didn’t know beforehand.” The king liked Tiz, after all, and both Tiz and Agnès had esteemed reputations in Caldisla. The king would probably have made a banquet out of the event if he could have. “Though I did wonder for a moment if you two were expecting a, ah, little bundle of joy.”  
  
Tiz looked appalled. “ _No._ ”  
  
“I hope we didn’t offend him,” Agnès said, starting to look a little worried about the king, and apparently not registering the latter half of what Karl had said. That is, until her new husband denied it so strongly. “What is the matter now? Aren’t you happy, Tiz?”  
  
“Yes, absolutely! That’s not what Karl was asking. ‘Bundle of joy’ is a euphemism. For babies.”  
  
“…Of course we’re not expecting a child,” Agnès said, giving Karl that look again, as if he had said something daft. “We only got married today.”  
  
“Well, ah…” Karl was trying to think of how to explain it delicately, now that it was obvious that the very suggestion would likely offend the newly-retired vestal, when Tiz beat him to it.  
  
“Sometimes, when a man and a woman love each other very much? They don’t even wait for the priest.”  
  
That was hardly a proper explanation, and yet Agnès’ face lit up with understanding in only a second. “Unacceptable!”  
  
Karl had the distinct impression that the two had at least talked about sex before, which… was good, honestly. They should be comfortable discussing such matters with each other. He also had a strong feeling he should apologize. “I’m sorry, Lady Agnès–”  
  
“You should be! You know Tiz is a good man!”  
  
–Apparently she was not offended on her own behalf. Tiz was using one hand to cover up his face again, though this time it was cherry red, and placed his other hand over Agnès’ to pat it. “Thank you. I can’t blame him for thinking of it, though. That’s one of the most common reasons for a rush wedding.”  
  
Agnès looked only slightly mollified. “It wasn’t rushed to me. I’ve waited such a long time.”  
  
Her husband’s hand paused in the air mid-pat before shifting to hold her hand more closely. Tiz pulled himself up from his embarrassment to kiss her on the cheek. “No more waiting,” he assured her happily.  
  
Now Agnès was the one to blush.  
  
Karl smiled. The wedding might have been rushed, then, but it was certainly not regretted. “You two are properly married. There’s no need to have had a public ceremony if you didn’t want one.”  
  
“But if that’s how they’re usually done…” Agnès trailed off softly, frowning. “I wouldn’t have been opposed.”  
  
“I did think about it for a moment,” Tiz confessed. “But then I thought, since neither of us have family…it just seemed like a traditional wedding would feel… empty.”  
  
Karl made a sympathetic noise. The impulsiveness of their marriage made a little more sense now. “And now you’re thinking you could have shared it with your friends?”  
  
Tiz nodded slowly. “I know they’ll be happy for us either way,” the young man said. “I just…hope they don’t feel hurt for being left out of it. I know  _Edea_  would have wanted to see it, and I’m sure there are others. I would have invited you and Egil, too! But…I wasn’t thinking.”  
  
“…You know, there’s no reason you can’t have a second ceremony,” Karl said, chuckling when both of them looked at him in surprise. “Yes, you’re already married, but neither of you would mind exchanging vows again, would you? Talk it over between yourselves. And congratulations once more. The two of you deserve happiness.”  
  
“That’s an idea,” Tiz said. The young man seemed much more relaxed now, and Karl wondered if he had been seriously worried about disapproval. “Thank you, Karl. You’ll be the first one to know what we decide.”  
  
“Yes, thank you!” Agnès echoed.  
  
In the morning, when they emerged from their shared room (Agnès having darted into Tiz’s room when they retired for the night, and Karl seeing no reason to fuss about a husband and wife sharing lodgings), they announced that they were going to get married. Again.  
  
The king of Caldisla declared that there would be a feast the moment he heard.


End file.
